Three Things We Learned - Manchester City 3-2 Fulham

10/06/2024 01:00 PM

City not at their best but claim three points thanks to Kovacic brace and Doku howitzer.

Two Mateo Kovacic goals, a Jeremy Doku screamer and a few fine saves from Ederson were just about enough for Manchester City to beat a very good Fulham.

Andreas Pereira had put the Cottagers ahead, but City equalised before halftime with Kovacic's deflected effort from inside the box following a corner.

The 30-year-old struck again just after the break to give City the lead, and Doku's thunderbolt looked like it was enough to seal the three points, only for Rodrigo Muniz to pull a goal back late on.

It wasn't plain sailing for City, as they required their goalkeeper to make a few brilliant one vs one saves against the ever-dangerous Adama Traore.

Here are three things we learned from our final game before the international break:

Defensive woes for City remain

Going forward, City look as good as they've ever been.

Doku, Savinho, Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish provide excellent attacking midfield options to supply Erling Haaland, who despite failing to score in his last two Premier League games has otherwise started this campaign playing like a man possessed.

Their issue lies from a defensive point of view, and although none of the defenders can be said to be performing poorly individually, they just can't seem to stop shipping daft goals.

The two goals they conceded yesterday were both somewhat avoidable. It was a magnificent piece of skill from Raul Jimenez to find Pereira, but Fulham were allowed to build on the edge of the box beforehand and the goalscorer was perhaps afforded a bit too much space and time in the box.

The second goal was certainly avoidable, with Muniz given the time to take a touch and finish inside a packed penalty area, with Match of the Day analysis showing six players standing off the Fulham striker.

These are - as dubbed by Fabian Delph in City's 2017-18 Amazon Prime documentary - the basics of football, so it is somewhat concerning that City keep conceding goals in this manner.

The reintroduction of Nathan Ake after the international break will improve City defensively, as may giving John Stones more starts at either centre back or right back.

Losing Rodri doesn't help either, but that doesn't excuse some of City's defensive play so far this season that'll need addressing before they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers after the international break.

Doku on form is the perfect impact sub

City's attack up until Doku came on was looking fairly stale, with Fulham in fact, the better of the two teams.

But the 22-year-old was excellent coming off the bench, and sparked a bit off life back into the game.

Compared to Grealish, who was fairly poor and even at the best of times is a measured, patient winger, Doku's pace and trickery caused a direct issue for Fulham's backline even before his goal.

The strike itself was as sweet as any professional footballer could've hit the ball, and the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Frank Ribery would've been proud of such an effort.

Whilst I maintain that Grealish is still the better player to start games as he can interchange positions and will help with control in Rodri's absence, there are very few players in world football better than an in form Doku to bring on when the game needs brightening up.

Haaland is more than just a poacher

He may not have scored, but Haaland had a good game against Fulham and proved to those who doubt him that he's a better all-round player than many give him credit for.

The service to him wasn't great, but when he did get the ball he was linking up well with his teammates and posing a problem to the Fulham backline with his mere presence.

He was also essential towards the end of the game at winning headers, both from long goal kicks from the outstanding Ederson and from defensive set pieces.

Haaland didn't get much of a sniff in front of goal, and he passed up what looked like a good opportunity to have a dig by laying the ball off to Bernardo Silva instead of having a crack from the edge of the box with his right foot.

Any time the 24 year old doesn't start most assume he's had a frustrating game, but against Marco Silva's side he played a crucial role on and off the ball and highlighted that he's the best striker in the world and arguably City's most important player other than the injured Rodri.